packing the cobalt

[aufreefly 0]

Does anyone have suggestions on how to pack a cobalt?I have a 150 and have been psycho packing and rolling the outer four cells towards the middle. I have had some painful openings, it has been opening hard enough to rip the stitching out of one of my toggle keepers. I love the way the canopy flies, but would appreciate some ideas on how to control the openings.

[SkySlut 0]

aufreefly,
I cant give you any tips on packing the cobalt, but I do have a question...I checked out your profile, Is that your real name??? Sorry, I have a sense of humor like a child...I cant help it.
-Slut
"I'll jump anything!"

[cobaltdan 0]

we reccomend a straight propack.
push the nose in to the back.
fold the stabs neatly towards you.
quarter the slider (some people like to cup it towards you).
roll the tail tight.
remember if you are used to cupping air for a few seconds and deploying the opening will be faster than if you deployed at a higher fall rate. also i prefer to deploy in a slight foward track.
deploying slow and packing errors may give you a brisk opening but not a slammer.
please contact me via phone if there is any issue.
sincerely,
dan
atair
718-596-8641

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

I must concur with my fearless sponsor, Dan Preston; I just do a regular PRO pack on my Cobalt 85. I, unlike Dan though, roll my nose once but do not stuff it back. I pull my tail around and roll it about four times in my hand. When I lay the parachute on the ground I maintain my hand and the rolled part under the center so it doesn't "unroll". I have never been smacked by a Cobalt, nor was I ever smacked by my older Alpha using the same method. I hope this helps.
Chuck Blue
D-12501
Atair Factory Pilot

[alan 1]

According to a recent article in Parachutist (April 2001, page 59), if you get about ten or so openings like this, it is an anomaly and Atair will replace the canopy. An opening hard enough to rip the stitching on the toggle keepers is pretty serious, but not unheard of. I saw it on a Triathlon once, they repaired the riser and provided a video on proper packing.
alan

[cobaltdan 0]

kevin gibson who wrote the article received a brisk not slaming opening on several 95's tested. one was in fact out of trim from constantly drying in the sun (pond swoop practice), but the other two were perfect and open quite soft in consequence tests. what was common to all jumps by kevin was that he was using an oversized pilot, with double the surface area than we recommend. we sent him the recommended size pilot and you might want to look to a future editorial for his comments.
sincerely,
dan
atair

[diveout 0]

It seems strange to me that someone with thousands of jumps and professional canopy evaluation experience would make that kind of mistake. I know PC size could have been an issue, but isn't it possible that the canopy was the problem and not the extremely experienced person jumping it?
I'm very curious to jump the cobalt. I'll be sending in the demo order form from the websight first thing monday. My current canopy is a Stl. 150 and I'm eager to evaluate differences. I'd like to fly a 135.

[cobaltdan 0]

"It seems strange to me that someone with thousands of jumps and professional canopy evaluation experience would make that kind of mistake. I know PC size could have been an issue, but isn't it possible that the canopy was the problem and not the extremely experienced person jumping it?"
kevin gibson is very experienced and a shit hot pilot...but using a mismatched pilot is common and also is not that apparent on some canopy designs. most jumpers do not even think to ask the reccomended size pilots for their canopy. i believe this is because most people just use the pilot that came with the rig. i jump a javelin rs and it came with the same size pilot as a j1 we have. same size pilot but my canopy is 1/2 the weight.
(excluding the pond swoop special), the 2 canopies kevin jumped were definately perfect. i know for a fact as one was mine i took it out of my rig and sent it to him and the other was brand new, passed all quality control, and was subsequently tested by larry pennington owner of skydive suffolk after kevin jumped it. btw larry didn't send it back, he bought it.
anyway, we are finishing testing now of various size pilot cutes manufactured for us by jim cazer. and will be recommending specific sizes to our dealers for each canopy.
safe swoops...
sincerely,
dan
atair
www.extremefly.com

[aufreefly 0]

I tried pro packing and had much better results. I guess the canopy just does not like to be psycho packed. Everything is going well now.

[roq 0]

I make a packing of my cobalt 85 (and all my eliptical canopys) like Chuck Blue, but I bend the nose 4 out cell half turn for inside, leaving opened the nose of center cell. I don't push the nose inside, and I roll the tail 5 turns.
The slider is quartered and front lip of the slider are aligned with center cell.
I have soft and straight opening, and never had a hard opening same when open of high speed. I don't believe the cobalt have hard opening with it process of packing.
A.J.